Scammer Calling

     Last night I got a phone call from possibly the worst scammer in the history of trying to run scams. The call came at 3:45 from a restricted number. Of course, the only reason I picked up the phone at that time of night is that I think it is going to be some kind of emergency (especially since my wife works third shift). The call went something like this:


     Me: Hello?
     Scammer: Hello?
     Me: Who's this?
     Scammer: This is Beatrice (sic), I need your credit card number because of some suspicious activity on your account.
     Me: Yeah, nice try.
     
     I'm actually surprised I had the mental wherewithal to make that last quip. Of course, that is the scammer's tactic: get me when I'm sleepy and not thinking straight. Their hope is that, in your panic, you'll just give up the info. My mother-in-law got a similar kind of call, although this one was actually "professional" enough to have a recorded message quoting the name of her bank and everything. Again, suspicion was born when, after calling her, they wanted her account number.
     I was most surprised by the sheer laziness of the scammer, though. Seriously, this guy was mumbling so much I think he might have been eating a snack at the same time. The scam part of the call seemed like a last minute idea after calling the wrong number. He might have just been that high. "Wait a minute, this isn't Dominoes. I wonder if I can get a credit card number to get more munchies!"
     It does also remind of a time I did almost get scammed. It was a longer process, and I'm ashamed to say it took me two days to figure it out. 
     It was last winter, after I had been laid off and out of work for about three months. I got a message from a prospective employer for a work-from-home job. I know those are usually scams, but this one was touting the name of a legit company. Combine that with my desperation, I was willing to believe that somebody would hire me to manage accounts from home.
     I started getting some niggling doubts when the employer wanted to do all the interviews online, via Yahoo messenger. But I thought to myself, maybe this is how things are done now in the modern world. I'm such a borderline Luddite, maybe the whole face-to-face thing is old-fashioned. When I "got the job," I was excited enough to post online and call my folks and everything (which, of course, just made it all the more humiliating later).
     I guess I'm glad I let my paranoia get the better of me. After insistently searching online for some connection between the scammer's alias and the company he purportedly worked for and coming up with nothing, I finally found a news article which talked about this new method of scammers. See, after suckering in the "employee," the scammer will claim that new office equipment will be needed. So the employer (scammer) proposes to send the employee (victim) a check, which will not only cover the cost of the new equipment, but also the starting bonus. However, the equipment must be bought through a specific company, which is really just the scammer. The victim is then supposed to deposit the check (which, of course, is no good), then send the fee for the equipment to the account of the office supply company (the scammer). By the time the victim has found out the check has bounced, the transfer of the fees will already have gone through.
     This method relies on two things, of course. First, the desperation of the job-seeker, which needn't be explained in this current economy. Second, the "act of good faith" on the part of the employer/scammer. They make it seem like they are putting themselves out on the line, since you could just take their money and run. If there were any money, of course.
     Probably the most frustrating thing about the entire process was that, once I figured it out as a scam, I tried to play along until I could get somebody to do something about it. The company he was pretending to be from at first seemed like they were looking into investigating and taking legal action, but essentially lost interest after a day. And essentially there was no way to call the cops because there was nothing to track except a Yahoo account which is impossible to trace, since no verified personal information is needed to open one.
     So, I guess there's no real punchline to this post, except to be a cautionary tale. I hate being tricked more than anything, and this incident stands out as a stinging blow to my ego (for not immediately recognizing it as a scam) and my faith in humanity. But it does help to share, and all I can hope is that with some little warning nobody else may fall for it.